This invention relates generally to telecommunications, and more specifically to apparatus and methods for automatically refreshing a display screen of a telephone.
A telephone allows a user to use many services including personal communication services, such as telephone services, conference services, voice messaging services, and directory services, such as yellow page services. Telephones also permit access to and use of information services, such as stock quote services, weather services, traffic condition services and the like; and commercial services, such as fund transfer services, movie ticketing services or merchandise ordering services and the like.
A typical telephone has a display panel and navigation keys to help a user to find and use a service. Due to the many available services, the user often has to navigate through many menu displays in order to find a desired service.
Users often access the same services at the same time every day, or use some services more routinely than others, and tend to do so at certain times of day more so than at other times. In addition, such users might be disposed to access certain services depending on their location, such as while using public transportation, or while shopping in a mall.
By way of illustration, a user may be a working single parent, preparing in the morning for a long working day. The user uses his or her home phone to check local weather and traffic information for the daily commute route to school and to work. The user also uses a school bulletin board service to listen to school event announcements in the morning for his or her two children. In the evening after work, the user checks his voice messages, and listens to world news and sports headlines. Oftentimes, this user uses a local restaurant directory to order take-out for his children. Each time the user uses his home phone to access a service, he has to navigate painstakingly through the menu in order to find the right service.
It would be desirable for users such as the one described above that when a user picks up the home phone to use a service in the morning, the home phone is already displaying the service the user typically accesses at that time of day. Similarly, it would be desirable that when the user wants to use a different service in the evening, the user's home phone is already displaying the different service.
In another example, a user takes a commuter train to a shopping mall in the city every day. She uses her mobile phone to purchase the train ticket. While in a commuter train, the user typically listens to a music channel on her mobile phone. While at the mall, the user checks on her mobile phone the shopping mall directory for merchant information, such as location, business promotion, or event schedule. Frequently, this exemplary user will use her mobile phone to buy a ticket for the cinema in the shopping mall. It would be desirable for her mobile phone to display the services that she uses when she is at the train station, and displays the mall services when she is at the mall.
Based on the above discussion, there is a need to provide a solution for a telephone to automatically display services that are likely to be used at a given time and/or in a given location by a particular user.